Yes. It's equivalent to the spark plug in a gasoline engine. As Jim said, you hook a starting battery to the glow plug, spin the engine, and it starts(if fuel and air mix are correct). Once started, remove the battery and the engine will continue to run; the glow plug element is made of a platinum alloy and will continue to glow from combustion heat and catalytic reaction with the methanol in the fuel. The plug screws in to the engine head just like the spark plug in a gas engine.